Ah, finally! Alright, as I promised. Here we go~
I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
The very moment we set off (after eating and drinking), Hayner stepped closer to Fuu, pointing out certain things for her, guiding her. Aerith followed after us, the two boats gliding along swiftly over the dark waves. I stayed sitting, slouched lazily in the back of the boat, my eyes wandering over Hayner's figure and expressive face over and over.
Now that I looked at the young gypsy, he was no older than sixteen years of age, despite his leadership that made him appear older than that. His dark blonde hair that stuck up in the strangest way fit him, his large, brown eyes just as passionate as the rest of his movements. His nose was perky, his lips…I trailed off into memory of kissing those very lips as I stared at those pink lips that continued to move as he talked to Fuu, completely unaware that I was looking at him. That is, until Fuu said something to him, getting him to glance behind him and meet my eyes. He blushed immediately and turned his head to the side, clearly unused to this.
"Something you see that you like, Almasy?" he said, finally looking me in the eye.
I raised an eyebrow at him in question, thrown off by the he had went from embarrassed to daring, his brown eyes burning me inside.
"Maybe." I replied, purposely sweeping over his flawless form once more.
He gave me a look and began talking to Fuu again, ignoring me. I didn't care, though; it was obvious I had gotten the point across.
What was with Seifer simply staring at me whenever my back was turned? I could feel his icy eyes on me even now, kindling a small flame in the pit of my stomach. The way he freely expressed his desire towards me was new and odd, something I wasn't used to. Not many people, men or women, ever gave me those strange, boiling glances, never touched me so gently or made me go pink in the face, be it in embarrassment or anger. Not like he did. Seifer was…different.
"Is that the Lone Rocks?" Fuu asked, pointing with her free hand.
I gazed out at sea, finding the misshapen shadows of the Lone Rocks far out, jutting up from the waters. I nodded, then pointed to the east.
"We need to go only a bit farther; we're almost there."
"I have it from here, Hayner." Fuu said, dismissing me.
I stepped away from her, letting her do the rest. Spinning around, I found Seifer at it again, those damned eyes intent on searching every part of my body. The fire that was pitted in my stomach awoke, and I felt my face heat up without even meaning to. I cursed softly and sat down where I was, refusing to sit any closer to the ex-general than I had to in this small boat.
"You know, I don't bite…much." Seifer joked, winking at me.
"Shut up."
He chuckled in response, throwing his arms over the sides of the boat, leaning back some more. Could he get any more irritating?
"Should I go and sit where you are, instead?" Seifer asked after a moment.
Initially, yes he could.
"Would you shut up, Almasy? You're going to give me a headache at this point." I sighed.
He frowned. "Well, excuse me, princess." he retorted.
A snort started from behind me, and I gave Fuu a glare over my shoulder. Seifer shifted in the boat, looking out to sea, his eyes narrowed.
"Sei-"
"We're here." Fuu announced quietly, and I shut my mouth.
Hayner had been about to say my name, but Fuu had interrupted him. What was he ever going to tell me? Would I ever know?
"Hold on." Fuu instructed, putting both hands towards the water.
I watched as her slender hands glowed brightly in the darkness, her cloak billowing as the boat increased in speed. Salt water splashed along the sides of the boat, spraying me. I moved away, scooting closer to Hayner, who was hunting for any sign of something out at sea.
A couple of moments of silence passed by, neither saying a word. The boat kept its' course, the ocean spitting at me as we continued onward. Suddenly:
"There!" Hayner shouted, standing so suddenly that he wobbled dangerously over the edge of the boat.
I stood as well, catching his arm and yanking down, forcing him to sit as I did the same. He breathed a sigh of relief, but I didn't let go of his arm, nor did he pull away from me. Ah, that wondrous fire again. I had missed the burning feeling that erupted inside me, making it hard to breathe or move.
"Hayner." Fuu called.
I let go, but I could feel his hesitation. I could just picture those brown eyes giving me such a look that would make me pull him in for a kiss, long and rough. I was somewhat glad I hadn't looked him in the eye.
"Yeah?"
Seifer had avoided my gaze, but he had insisted on holding onto my arm. My breath had caught at the intense fire, having been unprepared for him to have done such a thing. My arm burned still, distracting me from what Fuu was telling me.
"…does that mean we're close?" I heard her finish.
"…what?"
She sighed. "Is that the port there? In the distance?" she asked, nodding slightly over to the left.
Searching the sea, I scanned it, trying to find something, anything. But there was…there! I inched closer, my eyes wide. Was that…it was.
"There." I whispered, pointing over. "That's Sirens' Island."
"Finally." she breathed, and got the boat to go in that direction. "It would seem our journey is finally over."
I sat in the boat, unable to tear my eyes away from the island as it got closer. The island was covered by a think fog, which was unusual. How Fuu or Hayner had spotted it was impossible in my eye. It was much larger, with a tall, pointed hill that went over the blanketed fog, a sandy beach that circled around most of the island. And, as we went even closer, a giant port came into view, where boats of all sorts were harbored, bobbing around in the foggy silence.
"Is this…?" I half-asked.
"Yes. " Hayner said to me. "Welcome to Sirens' Island."
Fuu said nothing as we made our way to the port, stopping close enough for Hayner to hop up onto another boat, climbing up onto the pier without any effort.
"Catch."
Fuu, dropping the magic, let the boat fully come to a stop, letting it sit there. As if by more magic, she produced a large rope that was somehow already connected to the boat, tossing it skillfully to Hayner, who caught it.
"Get off and stretch your legs, Seifer." Hayner yelled, tying the boat to the pier, much as the other boats were. "I think we've all had enough of the sea to last for a while." he laughed.
Fuu went first, her feet nimble as can be as she jumped onto the pier alongside Hayner. I moved to get into the next boat, but was taken by surprise when the boat suddenly rocked violently.
"Move aside."
I snarled over my shoulder at Squall, who was waiting impatiently, his eyes narrowed. Aerith stood behind him, an apologetic look on her face.
"Guys, come on!" Hayner shouted.
"Well? Move it." Squall stated.
I stepped to the side carefully, motioning for him to move first. "After you." I replied sarcastically.
He rolled his eyes, but stepped onto the next boat, Aerith following after him. The two easily made it to the pier, and I had barely made my way to the other boat. I could see Squall, shaking his head in disappointment, with Aerith standing beside Fuu, both of them speaking quietly to one another. Hayner was sitting on the edge of the pier, eyes on me.
"Hurry up, slowpoke." he called out.
"Shut it, siren." I shot back.
I heard Squall whisper, "Siren?" as I moved, my legs shaking with the effort of staying upright in the rocking boat, trying to get closer to the pier. Hayner gave me a look, then poked Fuu's leg.
"Could you help him? He's obviously helpless, and I really don't want to sit out here all day."
"Shut up!"
Fuu laughed. With a simple wave of her glowing hand, I felt myself be lifted from the boat and into the air, then floated over the pier, where she decided it best to drop me rather rudely onto the pier. Hayner stood and walked over to stand over me, a smirk on his face.
"Nice of you to join us, Almasy."
"Not another word, Divenity." I grumbled, standing up.
The only thing that was bruised was his ego, nothing more. And Seifer had a lot more ego to pass around; he would be fine.
"Well, ready to meet everyone?" I asked him.
He gave me a blank look, one that I couldn't read. "Sure."
"I shall be the guide for this part." Aerith said, walking to the front of the group, casting a green ball of light above her head. "It'll be harder to see with all this fog hanging about."
"Got that right." Leon sighed, walking past me to get to Aerith. "Why Merlin had to put a fog spell around this place, I'll never know."
"The Imperial soldiers, for one." I spoke up, going after the group as they began to walk, Seifer following with Fuu behind him. "The king, for another."
"Hm…good point." Leon glanced at me. "By the way, Roxas and Sora are already here. They've been worried sick."
"And Aqua? Terra? Ven?"
"Ventus apparently got wounded, but it's minor compared to yours." Leon gave me a pointed look. "What a stupid move you did, trying to escape in the craziest way possible. Couldn't you have just snuck out and not get caught?"
"And risk those defenseless gypsies getting hurt?! Hell no!"
Leon said nothing to my outburst, but his silence told me that I was right. The shifting sand beneath my feet was cool, yet familiar.
"Aqua and the rest are doing fine, Hayner. You have no need to worry." Aerith concluded for me. "But I heard that the Biichi Group have come. Do you remember them?"
"The…Zack?!" I cried.
"Yes. Selphie is desperate to see how much cuter you've gotten." Aerith giggled, glancing over her shoulder. "Just a fair warning, Hayner."
"Thanks." I replied, shivering. "How about Tidus? Still able to breathe underwater?" Aerith nodded. "Wakka still weird as ever?" She laughed aloud in reply. "Tifa still great at fighting?"
"The greatest." Leon jumped in. "She nearly beat me in a duel. Almost took my arm off in the process, too."
I burst out laughing, the sound echoing around us. "No way!"
"I saw the entire thing." Aerith agreed. "Leon was almost beaten. By a woman, no less. Wouldn't that be the talk of the gypsy world?" she teased as she guided us into the forest that covered the island.
Leon only growled in warning, but Aerith walked onward, unfazed by the threat. Leon sighed and looked back at me again.
"So, got any new stories to share? Besides the whole crisis we're going through?" he asked.
"Well…actually…I do. It's all about how I met Seifer. It's a pretty interesting story."
Leon's blue eyes went to look behind me, and, automatically, a tension filled the air around me. What the…?
"I think you should save that story for later, Hayn'." Seifer said from behind me.
Squall was an unbelievable prick! It was clear he didn't trust me, especially around Hayner. What was his problem, though? Did he think I would stab him in the back at the first chance that they all turned their backs on me?
"Well, I was planning on telling everyone around the Mirror Bonfire."
That caught my attention. "Mirror Bonfire? What's that?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
"It's this amazing bonfire that the first gypsies created. It's the most incredible thing ever." Hayner explained briefly.
"What's it look like?"
Hayner opened his mouth to answer, but Squall beat him to it.
"You'll see it when we get to the hideout." Squall snapped at me, then pulled Hayner ahead to join Aerith in the front, leaving me behind.
"That little bastard!" I hissed under my breath.
"He is wary of you, Seifer." Fuu said, walking up beside me.
"I figured that much out, thanks."
"No need to snap." she chuckled.
I huffed back at her in annoyance, folding my arms over my chest. This was absolutely ridiculous. I couldn't even speak to Hayner without getting a death glare from Squall. Fuu laughed softly, then nudged me.
"Challenge him."
"Squall?"
"I believe it would prove to him you are worthy of becoming a gypsy." she explained, her red eye shining in the dark. "The only difficulty will be that you must win against him."
"Has he ever been beaten?" I asked, wary of this idea.
"Only by a rare few." she replied.
I said nothing to her, caught up in thoughts of how this would even be a possibility. But, no matter the case, I had to fight Squall. If I wanted to be accepted into the gypsy realm, I would have to defeat him.
Oh, Leon can be so overprotective. Looks like Seifer has no choice in the matter, huh? (Can you guess who were the few that defeated Leon?)
Well, I'm in the mood to write, so you should be getting another chapter shortly! Hope you like it~